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mark9939 · Feb 16, 2003, 04:38 PM

I'm looking at buying a lowend Powermac, my first one. My question is, for everyday work, no gaming really, will upgrading to the 9000 really make a speed difference? Thanks in advance!

spiky_dog · Feb 16, 2003, 11:27 PM

Originally posted by mark9939:
I'm looking at buying a lowend Powermac, my first one. My question is, for everyday work, no gaming really, will upgrading to the 9000 really make a speed difference? Thanks in advance!

i will inform you in a week when my 9000 gets in (to replace the 4 mx sitting in my quicksilver's agp slot now).

i do no gaming either, and photoshop is my largest time sink.

AsahiToro · Feb 16, 2003, 11:56 PM

Originally posted by spiky_dog:
i will inform you in a week when my 9000 gets in (to replace the 4 mx sitting in my quicksilver's agp slot now). i do no gaming either, and photoshop is my largest time sink.

Yes, let us know. Also, are you guys talking about the 32 MB or 64 MB version of the GeForce 4 MX? I've got the 64 MB version and I'm debating on getting an ATI 9000, an OEM GeForce 3(if I can find one for a decent price) or just waiting for the ATI 9700 Pro to be available retail. So far, I'm leaning towards waiting for the 9700. My machine is a Digital Audio 733, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB WD SE, 10.2.4.

cdrgonzo20 · Feb 17, 2003, 02:08 AM

For the DA 733 owner, go with the geForce 3 or 4 if you can find them cheep. I would be very suprised if your machine could see any performance gain from a Geforce to the 9700. I have a Geforce 4 and the same computer as you, and I'm pretty certain the CPU is a significant bottleneck as it is for this card... The 9700, without a CPU upgrade, will be money down the toilet.

derekn · Feb 17, 2003, 02:49 AM

This is mainly a PC site but they have a VERY in depth look at the 9000:
http://www.tech-report.com/reviews/2...o/index.x?pg=1

The GeForce 4 MX is just a slightly souped up 2 MX, so for basic stuff it's just fine. If you aren't going to do any real heavy gaming stick to the 4MX. The one in my dual 867 is good for just basic gaming and the new PowerMac with 64 megs of VRAM should be fine for everyday use. Mine only came with 32 megs of VRAM so gaming wise it's pretty bad. LOL

D'Espice · Feb 17, 2003, 09:12 AM

I have to agree with what has been said before: If you're not into heavy gaming the GeForce4 MX will be just fine, and you won't feel the difference between a GeForce4 MX and a Radeon 9000 at all.

BobK · Feb 17, 2003, 10:11 AM

When is the 9000 out?

AsahiToro · Feb 17, 2003, 11:48 AM

Originally posted by BobK:
When is the 9000 out?

It's been available for a while. Maybe you meant the 9700 Pro which is a BTO option(shipping yet?) but not available retail yet. Hopefully, the retail card will be available soon.

spiky_dog · Feb 20, 2003, 12:43 AM

Originally posted by AsahiToro:
Yes, let us know. Also, are you guys talking about the 32 MB or 64 MB version of the GeForce 4 MX? I've got the 64 MB version and I'm debating on getting an ATI 9000, an OEM GeForce 3(if I can find one for a decent price) or just waiting for the ATI 9700 Pro to be available retail. So far, I'm leaning towards waiting for the 9700. My machine is a Digital Audio 733, 1 GB RAM, 80 GB WD SE, 10.2.4.

okay, i have my machine all set up with the 9000 now. coming from a 32 mb geforce 4 mx... i can't tell any difference at all. movies perhaps look a little better with the deinterlace smoothing turned on (well, at least they look different) but day to day performance seems about the same. on the other hand, i can drive two adc displays with the proper dvi-adc adaptor (as i am doing now, with 32 mb allocated to each display) and that experience is wonderful.

verdict: don't feel like you need to upgrade, as if you don't need the ports, you probably won't be able to tell the difference in performance, if such a difference exists at all.

AsahiToro · Feb 20, 2003, 01:00 AM

Thanks for the report spiky_dog,

Any word on game performance being much(worth it) better? From your report, it sounds best to holdout for an ATI 9700, especially since I have the 64MB GeForce 4.

D'Espice · Feb 20, 2003, 05:53 PM

Originally posted by spiky_dog:
okay, i have my machine all set up with the 9000 now. coming from a 32 mb geforce 4 mx... i can't tell any difference at all. movies perhaps look a little better with the deinterlace smoothing turned on (well, at least they look different) but day to day performance seems about the same. on the other hand, i can drive two adc displays with the proper dvi-adc adaptor (as i am doing now, with 32 mb allocated to each display) and that experience is wonderful.

verdict: don't feel like you need to upgrade, as if you don't need the ports, you probably won't be able to tell the difference in performance, if such a difference exists at all.

Told ya